Former pastor, congressman, Atlanta mayor and UN ambassador Andrew Young speaks at New Olivet Baptist Church during Sunday's service in commemoration of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mike BrownThe Commercial Appeal

Palmer Mosby leads members of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity as they gather, hand-in-hand, to sing their fraternal hymn Sunday afternoon during a memorial service at The National Civil Rights Museum to honor their fallen fraternity brother Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Andrew Young recalled walking into Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s room at the Lorraine Motel on the evening of April 4, 1968. King and his friends were having a pillow fight.

"They were just happy, cheesin' and everything, and I said, 'Y'all are acting like children.' They really were," said Young, a former mayor of Atlanta who then was working closely with King.

He remembers King was "playful" -- "the happiest I'd seen him in a long time," Young said.

Then King stepped onto the motel's second floor balcony, the group about to leave for dinner.

"All of a sudden the shot rang," he told the congregation at The New Olivet Baptist Church on Sunday. "The spirit of Martin Luther King was released in Memphis."

Young and others across the city evoked King's spirit from the pulpit on Sunday, the eve of the 43rd anniversary of his slaying.

Today, civil rights leaders converge on Memphis to remember King.

AFSCME Local 1733 is hosting a 10 a.m. march in King's honor followed by a rally in which Al Sharpton is expected to participate. Arun Ghandi, grandson of Mohandas Ghandi, will speak at the University of Memphis and Allan Boesak, a former freedom fighter and anti-apartheid leader from South Africa, will give a lecture at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.

On Sunday, Boesak gave sermons at Mississippi Boulevard to "celebrate the life and witness of Dr. King."

"(He) was born among you, inspired by you, but gave life and inspiration to the whole world," he said.

Boesak compared King to Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt. He said they all heard the voice of God and worked to spread the message.

"There is a generation who lived with Martin King, who marched with Martin King, ... who knew what it was like to be with a man touched by the presence of God," Boesak said. "When he spoke, it was not Martin King speaking. It was God speaking through Martin King."

Young, too, made Biblical comparisons while recalling how King came to Memphis in 1968 to support the striking sanitation workers.

In the midst of the "impossible task," of organizing what would be called the Poor People's Campaign, Young said, King told his followers he needed to go to Memphis.

"We thought it was another crazy idea," Young said. "No one encouraged him to go to Memphis. He felt called to Memphis, as Jesus was called to Jerusalem and all the disciples did not want him to go. But he knew where he had to go and why he had to go."

Both Young and Boesak asked their audiences to take King's vision and message to do something about widespread poverty.

Boesak urged people to recognize that King's voice still "pleads for peace" and is still heard today even as, he said, "one billion people across the world ... go to bed hungry."

"Let (his) voice be enough to make us stand up for justice. Let it be enough to make us work for peace," Boesak said.

Young pointed out that King's message resonates deeply with children.

"You know, the one thing they remember from school is the stuff they hear about Martin Luther King," he said.

Young said King's spirit has inspired people across the world -- in South Africa, in Berlin and in Egypt, among other places.

"The ministry and message of Martin Luther King, which says, at the least, to remember the children, is the message which must come from Memphis on this anniversary of not his death, but his resurrection," he said.

"This is the place where his soul was set free."

-- Mike Mueller: 529-2627

King events today

At 10 a.m., a march starting from AFSCME Local 1733 headquarters at 485 Beale and leading to the Shelby County Administration Building at 160 N. Main. Afterward, participants will return to 485 Beale for a community rally.

AFSCME's national secretary-treasurer Lee Saunders and Rev. Al Sharpton are scheduled to take part in the rally.

At the National Civil Rights Museum, recorded speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be broadcast in the courtyard beginning at noon. "The Mountaintop" speech is scheduled at 5 p.m.

A two-hour documentary called "Citizen King," about the last five years of King's life, will be shown at noon and 2 p.m.

Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, in conjunction with Memphis Theological Seminary, will host a 7 p.m. lecture by Dr. Allan A. Boesak, former freedom fighter and leader in the anti-apartheid effort in South Africa.

The April 4th Foundation's Commemorative Awards Banquet will honor its keynote speaker, Dr. Jeremiah Wright, pastor emeritus of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, with the I Am A Man Award. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Memphis Cook Convention Center, 255 N. Main. For information or tickets, call 859-3364.

During a 7 p.m. lecture at the University of Memphis' Michael D. Rose Theater, Arun Ghandi, grandson of Mohandas Ghandi, will share and reflect upon lessons his grandfather taught him during the nonviolent liberation campaign in India. The event is free and open to the public.

Also at the University of Memphis, the African-American Studies program and the Office of Diversity at the U of M will host a Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Award ceremony at 2 p.m. in the University Center Theatre. The public event is free to attend.

City of Memphis offices and facilities will be closed on Monday, including senior centers, community centers and city library branches.

Residents with Monday trash collection will have garbage picked up Tuesday. Memphis Area Transit authority buses, MATAplus buses and trolleys will run regular weekday schedules.